A Dream of Flame

A Dream of Flame in a Rift-Scarred Land

In the eastern wilds of Takaar’is, a storm is brewing…

For the exiles of the Free City of Sanctuary, safety is never a given. Their conscripted militia, The Riftwatchers, must remain ever vigilant to neutralize the countless threats of the exile zone: nightmarish planar shifts, otherworldly creatures, clans of humanoid raiders and dragon cultists, and even deadly inhabitants of their own cave system, hidden behind the iconic Haven Falls.

But when all of these dangers begin to align, the delicate balance of power that preserves stability in the exile zone falls under threat. And the Riftwatchers will have to do much more than damage control to save their city. They’ll need to uncover the sources of the ever-dangerous rifts and restore balance to the zone. Either the Riftwatchers will have to adapt to this new challenge, or a new group of guardians must arise. The Free City of Sanctuary depends on it.

Shelter from the Storm

Ever since the dread Baneslaying, an ancient event of apocalyptic proportions, magic use in Takaar’is has carried heavy legal penalties, the worst of which was often no better than a death sentence: exile into the eastern wilderness, far from the civilized nations of the world. For many years, exiles roamed the wilderness in small, nomadic bands, and each day their numbers thinned due to the dangers that lurk in the exile zone. But one day a great discovery brought the exiles to a new home. A small group of adventurers tracked a rare white stag through the wilderness, and it led them to a massive waterfall. Behind those falls, they found an immense cave system, and after they cleared most of the dangers lurking within, they founded there a settlement, and called it The Free City of Sanctuary. These adventurers formed the first noble families of the White Hart Covenant, the self-styled keepers of order in the anarchic city.

The Free City of Sanctuary hides a vibrant culture behind the massive waterfall known as Haven Falls. Countless magic users and magical races find a home underneath the city’s multicolored, crystalline ceiling. The White Hart Covenant exerts the most pressure on the City’s politics, but a number of other factions have arisen in the many years since the city’s founding: The Riftwatchers, a conscripted Militia dedicated to preserving the safety of the city against external and internal dangers; the Taproot Collective, a group of artists and progressives that form the majority of the lower and middle classes; the merchant guild known as The Silver Band, who are trying to buy out real estate from the White Hart Covenant’s clutches; The shadowy Onyx Syndicate, an organization of thieves’ guilds, black marketeers, shadowy creatures, and terror groups bent on revenge against the civilized world who cast them into exile; the University at Haven Falls, a neutral organization dedicated to educating the city in the liberal arts and sciences; and finally, the Invisible College, a secret society of mages whose massive, magical library lies at the top of the hill, its winding passages carved into the rocks that form the walls of the cave.

In the Eye of Chaos

What beings hide in the dark passages at the edge of the city? What secrets lay hidden in the immense stacks of the Invisible College’s Library? Who holds the levers of power in the city, and what are their plans? Is there any truth to the old tale that two ancient dragons guard the city from above, sometimes roaming the streets in disguise as regular citizens? All these secrets and more lie open to the finding, for anyone brave enough to ask the right questions…